Giant Bomb #8 | It's a Hit!

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Come on, I'm not asking them to hire your neighbor. I'm asking them to hire a fun, intelligent woman who knows about games (they exist!) as opposed to a fun, intelligent man who knows about games in order to inject more diversity into the site. It's not a complicated argument.

Sorry, it just rubs me the wrong way if people just say "Hire a black person" and somehow think thereby they will automatically appeal to all black people out there. I know that's not in any way what you meant but I dealt with that sorta stuff enough in my life so I jkust felt the need to say that. It's dehumanizing and was the reason why I quit my job. Cause I felt like my bosses weren't looked for qualified people but for some sort of mascots that they could parade around. Just breaking down people into the broadest category possible.
Again, I know that's not what you said, but I just heard that exact phrase so often but with a completly different meaning.
 
Sorry, it just rubs me the wrong way if people just say "Hire a black person" and somehow think thereby they will automatically appeal to all black people out there. I know that's not in any way what you meant but I dealt with that sorta stuff enough in my life so I jkust felt the need to say that. It's dehumanizing and was the reason why I quit my job. Cause I felt like my bosses weren't looked for qualified people but for some sort of mascots that they could parade around.
Again, I know that's not what you said, but I just heard that exact phrase so often but with a completly different meaning.

I don't think the point of positive discrimination hiring decisions isn't to appeal to that particular demographic but rather to ensure in general diversity of viewpoints etc? i dunno it's late and i don't really want to go through this. i get what you're saying though, it's always in danger of falling into tokenism
 
I don't think the point of positive discrimination hiring decisions isn't to appeal to that particular demographic but rather to ensure in general diversity of viewpoints etc? i dunno it's late and i don't really want to go through this. i get what you're saying though, it's always in danger of falling into tokenism

Yeah sure. I guess at this point I was less thinking about GiantBomb and more about my old job. Sorry.
 
Didnt he say he never tried sour cream or mayo either? Thats even weirder than onions

No ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles, relish, salad, any sauce, any salad dressing, baked potato, potato salad, anything that goes on a pizza or burger that isn't cheese or meat before he was 25. Still never mayo or sour cream, except that mac and cheese he threw away.

That's quite a list.
 
No ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles, relish, salad, any sauce, any salad dressing, baked potato, potato salad, anything that goes on a pizza or burger that isn't cheese or meat before he was 25. Still never mayo or sour cream, except that mac and cheese he threw away.

That's quite a list.

What. The. Fuck.

Now this is something I can get up in arms about!
 
Are you arguing people shouldn't be called out or corrected when they say something awful, ignorant, or discriminatory? Because the majority absolutely should do that if they don't want to implicitly allow it or have people think it represents them.

Personally, I'd consider myself in the community, and what I do is call out or question people who say awful things.

You are assuming rationality with the person you are arguing with. If someone is in your face saying, for example, "WTF is this woman doing on the podcast spreading her gay agenda", how are you going to convince them they are being ignorant? Pointing out the fact is just going to get you more of the same. You need to wait for them to be banned or their comment deleted and then, with the idiots gone, maybe you can have a reasoned discussion.

This is why Rorie is reviewing their mod policy. You can actually have a discussion on GAF because, agree with it or not, there is a zero tolerance and mods have no problem banning people.
 
I do like how he said that he liked the mac and cheese, but threw it away because his mom told him it had sour cream in it. :P

That's nearly gerstmann-esque in terms of food issues.
 
I wonder if it's another "first game = eternal love" scenario with that series. FoMT was my first HM, anyway.

as someone who has played ever damn HM game that has come out in NA, I can honestly say that FoMT is like top 3 at the very least.

it's one of the only ones ever to really nail the balance of everything well.
 
I wonder if it's another "first game = eternal love" scenario with that series. FoMT was my first HM, anyway.

I've played a couple of the other GB ones at least and they're all terrible and I never really bothered to figure out why.

Rune Factory 2 was pretty good tho. RF3, okay. RF1, had potential. RF4, who the fuck knows, fucking region locking
 
I don't understand how you can admit that a small part of one community can be toxic in how they deal with things, but refuse to believe a small part of another community could wrongly portray (in this case over aggressively) their side of the argument. It is not logical to think that one community could have a few bad eggs when the other community could not possibly have the same flaw to deal with

It is clear people on both ends of the argument have divergent opinion here, and I think that is okay, as everyone;s personalities and beliefs are different, But there is also people on both sides of the argument with much stronger versions of those opinion that feel a need to fight too hard to get their voice heard. It is when these too sections of the separate communities butt heads that causes the flare ups.

The toxic/aggressive elements, as I've seen them, are not equivalent. On the "more diverse hires" side the strongest form of the argument I've seen is suggesting that GB is sexist or racist for only hiring white dudes. Now I certainly don't think that this is true or that any point Jeff was like "let's only hire a white dude! Yeah! *high five*" during the hiring process so I'd consider arguing to someone about this by pointing towards examples of female guests and the stuff Patrick has written and their small staff size and etc etc etc. It is an argument that is starting in a very hostile place but it has positions you can engage and argue with.

On the opposite side, the most aggressive forms of the debate are "shut up you stupid feminist bitch I'm going to murder you". This is very different from the above. It isn't expousing any belief or point. It is just pure intimidation to try and push down a viewpoint that is being disagreed with.

This isn't a divergence of opinion with aggressive opinions on each side. It is one side having an opinion and the other side reacting to that opinion with slurs and threats of violence. Notice that in Jeff's Letter from the Editor he doesn't admonish people for agreeing or disagreeing either side of the argument or with what Giant Bomb has been doing. He only says that bullying and intimidation tactics will not be tolerated. The "two sides" aren't "I like Giant Bomb's hires" and "I wish they'd hire more diverse people" it is people having an argument people being bullying assholes.
 
Giant Bomb next hire needs to be a staff chef. Then film Jeff and Dan eating exotic dishes prepared for them and the resulting scrunched up baby faces.

GIF-Samuel-L-Jackson-as-the-baby-gamer.gif
 
No ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles, relish, salad, any sauce, any salad dressing, baked potato, potato salad, anything that goes on a pizza or burger that isn't cheese or meat before he was 25. Still never mayo or sour cream, except that mac and cheese he threw away.

That's quite a list.

Definitely a weirdo.

I can see how Jeff gets along with him, since he isn't too far off as far as food goes.
 
I'm fairly certain Dan's trolling the audience about his gaps in food experiences. There's no one a grown man like Dan could have an even odder and possibly narrower lifetime food experience than, say, Ryan Scott.
 
I think that both sides are wrong even when in this case was the GB community pissing their pants for a 10-15 segment. The fact that people are already reasoning this as a part of why would not renew their subscription

"people"

I'd like to see you quote more than one person saying this. Prime example of a false equivalence. One persons says they might not resubscribe if GB continues to consist of 100% white dudes(totally within their right to do, btw) VS. a community wide meltdown over a female guest.


SEE BOTH SIDES ARE THE SAME!!!!!!
 
Sorry, it just rubs me the wrong way if people just say "Hire a black person" and somehow think thereby they will automatically appeal to all black people out there. I know that's not in any way what you meant but I dealt with that sorta stuff enough in my life so I jkust felt the need to say that. It's dehumanizing and was the reason why I quit my job. Cause I felt like my bosses weren't looked for qualified people but for some sort of mascots that they could parade around. Just breaking down people into the broadest category possible.
Again, I know that's not what you said, but I just heard that exact phrase so often but with a completly different meaning.

No worries, we all love the site and want it to be awesome even if we have minor disagreements in some things.
 
I can tolerate a lot of different types of people, but "sheltered food weirdo" is a demographic I have a real problem with.

I think Ryan knew this and that was often the reason why they tasted energy drinks or swedish savory candies. For some reason, when people really don't like something, I find it hilarious.
 
Instead of defensively reframing the criticism as being about you (you being the global you) and others who aren't the problem, you can instead acknowledge the problematic people and condemn their words or actions, right?

"The Giant Bomb community is acting awfully."
"Well not all of us are, that's completely unfair to paint us all with a broad brush, it upsets me."

Vs.

"The Giant Bomb community is acting awfully."
"Yeah, some people are being assholes. I hope the rest of the community calls them out, we don't welcome that, and wish they'd leave. They're not welcome here."

These both impart that the larger community is not like this, but one does it without reframing the discussion about you (globally), and doesn't derail the discussion. One of those also better acknowledges the underlying issue as being an issue.

I don't see why the criticism has to be framed with a such sweeping statement to begin with. Shouldn't you just say "There are some people in the GB community acting awfully?" and then we can go straight to agreeing that those people suck and should leave.

In that bottom scenario I'm still basically making a "Not all of us" argument, it just has a statement condemning them on the end, which could easily be added to the first scenario.
 
Peeps should check out the Atari article that Patrick put up. The new management seems somewhat cavalier, is dabbling in some areas that from my perspective aren't entirely wholesome and definitely isn't targeting the same audience that is on NeoGAF, but there is something interesting there nonetheless.
 
I really don't like the "both sides are wrong" argument in this instance.

Well, I'm not exactly excusing the fact that a group of people acted like total jerks because a guest that was outside of their side of comfort.

At the same time, outside the GB community and geek tension, I thought that Samantha was a way to try to take note of the issues that critics and being outside of the comfort zone as a new hire will not be a given for a while.

"people"

I'd like to see you quote more than one person saying this. Prime example of a false equivalence. One persons says they might not resubscribe if GB continues to consist of 100% white dudes(totally within their right to do, btw) VS. a community wide meltdown over a female guest.

SEE BOTH SIDES ARE THE SAME!!!!!!

"A community wide meltdown". Still, you had point about that few people doing it.
 
I understand that lots of folks are resistant to hiring a token female/person of color, but one needs only look at how much better The Idle Thumbs Podcast has been since adding Danielle Riendeau to their roster.

Of course, the Idle Thumbs community already >>>>>> the GB community, but that diversity will only strengthen and improve it.
 
I don't see why the criticism has to be framed with a such sweeping statement to begin with. Shouldn't you just say "There are some people in the GB community acting awfully?" and then we can go straight to agreeing that those people suck and should leave.

In that bottom scenario I'm still basically making a "Not all of us" argument, it just has a statement condemning them on the end, which could easily be added to the first scenario.

The first scenario reframes the situation as an argument between you and the previous commenter. You are treating their comment as a perceived slight and are now making the comment about you. If both of you agree that some people on GB are acting like assholes, then an argument isn't productive. It's best to simply speak out against the assholes, and acknowledge that they are indeed a part of the community, but they are a part that needs to leave.
 
I understand that lots of folks are resistant to hiring a token female/person of color, but one needs only look at how much better The Idle Thumbs Podcast has been since adding Danielle Riendeau to their roster.

Of course, the Idle Thumbs community already >>>>>> the GB community, but that diversity will only strengthen and improve it.

Danielle Riendeau has made Idle Thumbs a much better podcast, I agree. It's because she is an interesting, intelligent, funny, well-spoken person.
 
Finally catching up on this stuff. I think featuring a greater diversity of guests on Giant Bomb can only be a good thing. As a trans woman, I'm impressed with them having Samantha on, and I thought the guys were really nice and respectful. I think Samantha was great. The whole conversation was polite, and I didn't sense anything inflammatory (which is why when I looked at this thread I wondered what was going on).
 
What if Samantha was brought on just as a guest? You know - to do guest things.
Jeff Greene doesn't get any flack. Neither does Brad Muir
(who actually has products to hock)
.

Sometimes a spade is just a spade and there isn't any huge conspiracy behind it, an agenda pushing it, or months and months of planning and damage control because of it.
 
Finally catching up on this stuff. I think featuring a greater diversity of guests on Giant Bomb can only be a good thing. As a trans woman, I'm impressed with them having Samantha on, and I thought the guys were really nice and respectful. I think Samantha was great. The whole conversation was polite, and I didn't sense anything inflammatory (which is why when I looked at this thread I wondered what was going on).

Of course there was nothing inflammatory, I wouldn't expect there to be. The fact that Samantha is a trans woman only seems to matter to a small, bigoted minority.
 
Danielle Riendeau has made Idle Thumbs a much better podcast, I agree. It's because she is an interesting, intelligent, funny, well-spoken person.

I twinged when she said her first impression of Splatoon was "it looks like dogshit", even if it was played up (I can't actually tell if it was played up), but otherwise she's a good fit.
 
That's part of it, sure. But it's also because she brings a different perspective to the conversations as a woman and all her unique experiences that Chris/Sean/Jake/Nick/Steve don't have.

To be fair that unique experience turned out to be actually playing games. :P
 
They don't have a lot of things in Minnesota.
This isn't really true. There's a big Hmong population, and there's a ton of Vietnamese food in the area.
That's part of it, sure. But it's also because she brings a different perspective to the conversations as a woman and all her unique experiences that Chris/Sean/Jake/Nick/Steve don't have.
Exactly. This is a blunt ass example, but none of those guys could have talked about "Coming Out Simulator" in a similar kind of way.
 
Finally catching up on this stuff. I think featuring a greater diversity of guests on Giant Bomb can only be a good thing. As a trans woman, I'm impressed with them having Samantha on, and I thought the guys were really nice and respectful. I think Samantha was great. The whole conversation was polite, and I didn't sense anything inflammatory (which is why when I looked at this thread I wondered what was going on).

Samantha was a great guest, indeed.
 
I'd be willing to bet the amount of bullshit you have to endure from internet comments and the like being a newbie on-camera personality youtuber is probably worse if you're a girl than if you're a guy... probably a good reason to stick to things where it's a bit more likely that your content will define you rather than your personality, at least at first glance

Sigh. All these micro-level decisions that make perfect sense but result in macro-level bullshit.

I agree, but putting yourself out there via Giant Bomb may also generate a lot of hate (just ask Patrick). Not getting experience you need for fear of something that may happen anyway once you get the job is a terrible way to go about things.

You've got to take the chance on yourself before you ask an employer to.

I really don't like the "both sides are wrong" argument in this instance.

You've done a good job of saying what the Giant Bomb community shouldn't be doing, but you haven't addressed anyone asking what should they do.

A large, long lasting community feels under attack because of a recent, nasty problem which they're not used to seeing. And you're surprised they're being vocal about the fact this cancer doesn't represent them when they have no other power because they're not mods or staff?

I understand that lots of folks are resistant to hiring a token female/person of color, but one needs only look at how much better The Idle Thumbs Podcast has been since adding Danielle Riendeau to their roster.

Of course, the Idle Thumbs community already >>>>>> the GB community, but that diversity will only strengthen and improve it.
Daniel seems great, but being on a podcast is the easiest part of their job.

It's much more difficult when you're hiring and wondering "what is this person like on camera?", "what is this person like hosting guests?", "can this person video interview someone at a moments notice without prep?".

I don't think people give Jeff enough credit when it comes to picking people. Dude's been in this industry for a while, but people are acting like he's new to this and doesn't know what's best for his own site.
 
Oh man, that statement is immediately polarizing.

Whoops, that was kind of taken out of context. She did a complete turnaround and super likes Splatoon after getting her hands on it, but my first thought when I first heard that was "Girl are your eyes broke?". As I said, she's fine, it was just that tiny thing that made me go "wat".
 
No ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles, relish, salad, any sauce, any salad dressing, baked potato, potato salad, anything that goes on a pizza or burger that isn't cheese or meat before he was 25. Still never mayo or sour cream, except that mac and cheese he threw away.

That's quite a list.

He's lying or Jeff hired an alien. How could you avoid any of this for so long? Did he never eat at McDonald's? How did he live in Minnesota? Or anywhere in the US?
 
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